Clefting and focus with to je
In short
| Tool | Pattern |
|---|---|
| what-cleft | Ono što me brine je cena. / To je ono što sam rekao. |
| person | Marko je taj koji / Ana je ta koja / Oni su ti koji — koji in its own clause's case (koju, kome) |
| object first | Kafu sam naručila, a ne čaj. — case unchanged |
| adverbial first | U četvrtak je bilo, a ne u utorak. |
| upravo / baš | right before the word: upravo ta rečenica, baš to |
| resumptive | Tvoju sestru, nju sam videla. / Ono što je rekao, to nije istina. — same case |
Upravo + past verb = "just" (Upravo sam stigao), not emphasis.
B2 · Lesson 28 · Isticanje: to je ono što, upravo, baš
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
When someone misunderstands you, you need to point at the one part of your sentence that matters: not Tuesday but Thursday, not the offer but the contract, not me but Marko. English does this with "It was Marko who…" or "What worries me is…". Serbian has the same tools, plus two small words, upravo and baš, that do the pointing on their own.
Serbian uses these tools less often than English does, because its free word order already lets you put the important word first or last. So keep them for contrast and correction — when you are setting someone straight — not for ordinary emphasis. Linguists call these sentences clefts: the sentence is split so that one element stands out.
1. Ono što … je … — "What … is …"
Ono što means "the thing that / what". You met relative što after a pronoun earlier; here it builds a whole clause that names the topic, and je then delivers the point: Ono što me brine je cena — "What worries me is the price." Turned round, to je ono što means "that is what": To je upravo ono što sam htela da kažem — "That's exactly what I wanted to say." Negate it with nije: To nije ono što sam rekao.
2. Pointing at a person: X je taj koji …
To say "it was X who…", name the person, add je plus a form of taj that agrees with that person, and continue with koji. The relative pronoun takes the case its own clause needs, exactly as you learned for relative koji: subject → koji/koja, object → koga/koju, indirect object → kome/kojoj.
| Who is singled out | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a man (subject) | je taj koji | Marko je taj koji je zaboravio ključeve. |
| a woman (subject) | je ta koja | Moja koleginica je ta koja je napravila grešku. |
| a group (subject) | su ti koji | Oni su ti koji treba da se izvine. |
| a woman (object) | je ta koju | Ana je ta koju sam pozvao. |
| a man (indirect object) | je taj kome | Direktor je taj kome treba da pošalješ poruku. |
3. Putting the object first — and keeping its case
The simplest way to single out an object is to move it to the front and add the contrast with a ne ("and not"): Kafu sam naručila, a ne čaj. — "It was coffee I ordered, not tea." The object keeps its accusative: it is still the object of naručiti, wherever it stands. The same goes for both sides of the contrast: Ugovor treba da potpišeš, a ne ponudu — ponudu, not ponuda.
A pronoun singled out this way must be the stressed form, never the clitic, because a clitic cannot carry emphasis or open a sentence: Tebe sam tražila, a ne tvog brata.
4. Singling out when, where or why
Time, place and reason phrases work the same way: bring them forward and contrast them. The preposition and its case stay exactly as they would be anywhere else: U četvrtak je to bilo, a ne u utorak. Na stanici sam te čekao, a ne ispred bioskopa. With a reason, add upravo or baš: Baš zbog toga sam te zvao.
5. upravo and baš — "exactly, precisely, that very"
Put upravo or baš directly in front of the word you are pointing at. They do not change form. Upravo is neutral to formal; baš is everyday speech. Upravo ta rečenica je izazvala nesporazum. — "It was that very sentence that caused the misunderstanding." Baš to te i pitam. — "That's exactly what I'm asking you."
Watch the position. Upravo sam stigao (upravo before the verb, with the past) means "I have just arrived" — a time word, not emphasis. Upravo ja sam stigao prvi points at ja. If you mean "exactly this", put upravo/baš right before this.
6. Fronting with a pronoun that repeats it
In speech you can announce the topic first, pause, and then pick it up again with a pronoun: Tvoju sestru, nju sam videla juče. — "Your sister — her I saw yesterday." The repeating pronoun is stressed (nju, njega, njemu) and both words stand in the same case: Tvoju sestru … nju (accusative), Tom čoveku … njemu (dative, because verovati takes the dative). A whole što-clause can be picked up with to: Ono što je on rekao, to nije istina.
| Tool | What it singles out | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ono što … je / to je ono što | a whole idea | Ono što ne razumem je zašto niko nije pitao. |
| X je taj koji … | the person who acted | Ti si taj koji je insistirao na ovom restoranu. |
| object first + a ne | the thing, in its own case | Ugovor treba da potpišeš, a ne ponudu. |
| adverbial first + a ne | the time, place or reason | U subotu je sastanak, a ne u petak. |
| upravo / baš + word | any single word | Upravo zbog toga se ljutim. |
| topic, pronoun … | a topic picked up again | Tvog šefa, njega ne poznajem. |
The commonest slip is to put the fronted word in the nominative because it now stands first. Ask what the verb needs: naručiti needs an accusative (kafu), verovati a dative (tom čoveku), insistirati na + locative. Moving a word never changes its case.
Check what you read
6 of the 18 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
___ što me brine je cena.
To nije ___ što sam rekla.
Moja sestra je(taj) koja je zvala.
Oni su(taj) koji su kasnili.
Petar je taj ___ sam pozvala.
Ana je ta(koji) sam dao ključ.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Oni su ti koji su preuveličali problem.
They're the ones who exaggerated the problem.
Direktor je taj kome treba da pošalješ ispravku.
The director is the one you need to send the correction to.
To je upravo ono što sam htela da kažem.
That's exactly what I wanted to say. (woman speaking)
Ono što me brine je cena, a ne rok.
What worries me is the price, not the deadline.
Ti si taj koji je insistirao na ovom restoranu.
You're the one who insisted on this restaurant. (to a man)
Ono što ne razumem je zašto niko nije pročitao zapisnik.
What I don't understand is why nobody read the minutes.
To nije ono što sam rekao, pogrešno si me protumačila.
That's not what I said, you misinterpreted me. (man speaking to a woman)
Marko je taj koji je zaboravio ključeve, a ne ja.
Marko is the one who forgot the keys, not me.
Ana je ta koju sam pozvao, a ne njena sestra.
Ana is the one I invited, not her sister. (man speaking)
Moja koleginica iz računovodstva je ta koja je napravila grešku u fakturi, a ne ja.
My colleague from accounting is the one who made the mistake in the invoice, not me. (the colleague is a woman)
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 12
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
They're the ones who exaggerated the problem.
a mixed or male group